At its 2019 Upfront, Nine unveiled the next stage of plans to simplify and further automate the buying of television through its proprietary technology 9Galaxy and launched 9Voyager, aimed at opening the TV market to more small and medium enterprise (SME) owners.

9Voyager is aimed to allow Nine to better serve small and medium businesses who can now access its inventory to create a dynamic schedule across off-peak and multichannel inventory using the new automated trading platform, and pay via credit card or PayPal, all in one simple transaction.

“Self-serve booking has long been the domain of the global technology companies, but 9Voyager will give two million SMEs access to Nine’s premium, brand-safe inventory and open up our business to an entirely new marketplace,” said Michael Stephenson, Nine’s chief sales officer.

“9Voyager was developed by our team right here in Sydney and is an example of the great entrepreneurial spirit at Nine and level of innovation we are capable of in Australia.”

Nine has estimated that the direct digital video market for small to medium businesses could be worth more than $1bn a year.

For new advertisers that do not have their own TV commercial, 9Studios will develop bespoke creative. Alternatively, 9Voyager users can provide existing creative through their agencies.

Nine also laid out a two-year roadmap for the 9Galaxy automated trading platform, which is already booking close to 30% of its off-peak and multichannel inventory.

Stephenson announced that the next stage of the rollout would integrate 9Now into 9Galaxy, allowing linear TV and 9Now to be traded in one seamless transaction using one technology platform.

By mid-2019, Nine will also have integrated both the Virtual Oz database and its seven million-plus 9User IDs into 9Galaxy, enabling advertisers to buy against behavioural segments like new car buyers or heavy shoppers, as well as age and sex demographics, across both linear TV and BVOD.

By the end of 2020, Nine has promised that 9Galaxy will deliver all the audiences that marketers and agencies want to buy across the key inventory sources, across linear TV, live streaming and 9Now on a connected TV, mobile, desktop or tablet. It will deliver your campaign in the most efficient way possible to deliver better results.

“Today Nine has clearly laid out its technology roadmap for the next two years,” said Stephenson.

“We are changing at a rapid pace to meet the needs of our advertisers, and adapting our business to make advertising with Nine more effective and efficient. Our development roadmap will ensure that we lead the way globally, not just in Australia.”

Nine launched 9Galaxy last year at its 2018 Upfront showcase, promising it would offer marketers and agencies far greater certainty on their television campaigns by guaranteeing 100% delivery of dynamic campaigns bought via the platform.

Nine has been asked to present the 9Galaxy platform globally, with executives invited to attend next month’s Sales Innovation & Tech Fest and Customer Experience Innovation & Tech Fest in Cape Town in South Africa.